Windows 7 to feature GPU acceleration like Apple's Snow Leopard?

A first true glimpse of Windows 7, Microsoft's Vista successor, is T minus 1 day and counting. So far we know very little. Oh sure, it supports multi-touch and takes 1,000 engineers to code but the real details will emerge from Tuesday's kickoff to the PDC 2008 developer conference. As detailed by TG Daily, the PDC track notes dedicate 22 of the 155 tracks to Windows 7 with 2 further dedicated to GPU acceleration under the titles, "Unlocking the GPU with Direct3D," and "Writing Your Application to Shine on Modern Graphics Hardware." Interesting times given Apple's announced OS X Snow Leopard support for OpenCL GPU acceleration in partnership with new best buds, Nvidia, and Intel planning to kill off the GPU entirely. Somebody has to be wrong.

[Thanks, Jeelz]

[GoodBytes Posted Oct 27th 2008 7:55AM]

I am getting annoyed of Engadget.
If this continue, I will stop viewing this website.
Already I placed a ad-blocker (Ad-Block Plus) in Firefox to not support your site even more.
I have feelings that this website is own by a division of Apple computers.

[Madre Dios Posted Oct 27th 2008 8:05AM]

IF you don't like Engadget then go to Gizmodo, which is worst.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2008 8:06AM]

Well if you bothered to actually read the article, maybe you'd realize their comparison is actually not that far-fetched. And to all the bashers on either side: who cares if company X copies feature Y from company Z. If it helps make the software better, then why is it a bad thing? 'Borrowing' features is one of the most common practices in software development. Game developers do it all the time. Give it a rest.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2008 8:08AM]

I'm not sure why you are getting your knickers in a twist over it. Apple announced OpenCL for Snow Leopard back in June and now Microsoft sounds like they might be about to announce something similar in their new OS. Sounds like perfectly fair reporting of the story, no?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2008 8:11AM]

Links to TG Daily. Excellent site. Find them much more unbiased than here.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2008 9:46AM]

"Bas @ Oct 27th 2008 8:06AM
.... who cares if company X copies feature Y from company Z. If it helps make the software better, then why is it a bad thing? 'Borrowing' features is one of the most common practices in software development. Game developers do it all the time. Give it a rest."

You got that right. ... Apple copies Microsoft copies Apple copies Microsoft...

So, Bad_Bytes, don't let the door hit you in the ass... Bye, goodbye, buh-bye .... hugs... let's do lunch sometime, okay? :)

[GoodBytes Posted Oct 27th 2008 10:06AM]

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WARNING this might be a double post, sorry for this. My reply is not being added. So I am trying the direct way, and not the link on the e-mail method.
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It's not a question who copied who.
It's a question of:
1- Saying proper facts. The article suggest that this is a new Windows 7 feature. It is not! It's like saying: "The Mac Book Pro features a battery". It's just as lame as that.
2- I know it's hard to be unbiased, but Engadget is getting way over the top in worshiping Mac's. I also would dislike the contrary, a balance is needed!

[The Dead Marxist Trio Posted Oct 27th 2008 3:00PM]

Engadget is actually a division of AOL-Time Warner, dolt.

Quit your bitching everybody. How the hell does this not warrant a comparison to OS X?

Snow leopard will include support for GPU as CPU capabilities, so Windows 7 damn sure better include something on par, or no consumer computing rig will even come close to the processing capabilities of a macbook pro.

I am not in either fanboy camp, I'm one of the guys on the side shaking his head.

I went back and read this article, TWICE and don't see how this is Engadget being pro-apple or anti-MS in any way.

Two upcoming, competing OS'es are touting similar, revolutionary technologies, and it doesn't warrant a comparison or much less a mention, for Christ's sake?

STFU fanboys, Engadget's done a fine job with this article, though there has been some bias in recent times.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2008 8:08AM]

lol vista

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2008 8:14AM]

Ok Engadget, you have won. I have just gotten myself an old-gen Macbook (love the design and simplicity). Now stop bashing Microsoft.


*Trashes out Mac OS and installs Vista Ultimate*

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2008 8:27AM]

You're better off getting the older Macbooks. From what i heard a good few people are having problems with the new Battery latch is loosening and some of the keys are slanting.

Also if you have ordered a customised designed macbook, you will not get a return or refund under any circumstances unless it's Dead on Arrival. Which is a shame if you ask me because as a product i genuinely believe that they are quite good looking laptops.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2008 9:01AM]

I got the Macbook white as it did not have the extreme glossy Display along with the out of place looking screen bezel.It was also somewhat cheaper now that the new ones are out and I am guessing (like you pinted out on the battery latch) that the older Design is somewhat more refined. Its a great and clean looking notebook, where you don't have tons of stickers and preinstalled crapware on a machine along with 8 different keys just to change the damn volume or brightness (Acer Gemstone 2). Love the fact that the hardly used function keys are being given the duty of multimedia etc.

[Phil P Posted Oct 27th 2008 8:21AM]

Of course its coming to Windows, and of course its coming to OSX, simply because its the right time. This GPGPU stuff has been coming for a few years and its finally hitting the stage where its (relatively) main stream enough to warrant being built right into the OS.

Saying Microsoft are copying Apple is ridiculous. Apple just happened to announce their OS before Microsoft. Microsoft have been holding back which is a good thing. It hopefully means all the planned features will be close enough to finished for them to be able to promise they will be in the final OS. Something they really up on quite majourly in Vista

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2008 8:32AM]

Oh my god, you copied me didn't you by using the same language as me, and i bet you used a keyboard too to write that post! Copycat :)

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2008 8:39AM]

Maybe But it will probably not work right!

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2008 8:52AM]

Someone forgot to tell those 1000 coders that the pressing of

"Alt + Ctrl + Delete" , does not constitute "multi touch" functionality...

[dcoaster Posted Oct 27th 2008 9:22AM]

LOL. Now that's my laugh for the day... Back to the ol' grind.

[chrisp Posted Oct 27th 2008 9:07AM]

I can't wait for Larrabee to come and put all this DirectX vs OpenCL rubbish to bed.
Larrabee is going to revolutionise things big time, mark my words \0/

[TheGoogleist Posted Oct 27th 2008 9:10AM]

I think that they (Microsoft) should give Windows 7 to the unfortunate people (like me) that have to suffer through Vista (the only thing that stopped me from installing OSx86 or Linux is the games)...

[Rollins Posted Oct 27th 2008 9:18AM]

It was only your lack of competence that made using Vista such a poor experience.

[tcc3 Posted Oct 27th 2008 9:19AM]

And just like aero, people will bitch that they need a video card made in this decade to run windows.

[Mikee Posted Oct 27th 2008 9:26AM]

Sigh. Already beginning with the "Windows stole xyz from OS X" mantra again...

The news of GPGPU functionality in Windows 7 is just as old, if not older than the news of OpenCL being using in Snow Leopard. I didn't see Engadget posting an article during WWDC 2008 titled "Snow Leopard to feature GPU acceleration like Microsoft's Windows 7?"...

[lurchmojoff Posted Oct 27th 2008 9:56AM]

Dude, seriously. DirectX 11 was announced at the end of July at the Gamefest conference (July 20-ish, I believe) and I can't remember whether the GPGPU functionality was among the features mentioned (the earliest I heard about it was sometime in August). WWDC'08 was June 9 - June 13. I agree that the whole who-stole-what game is ridiculous, but let's not say stupid stuff in the other extreme.

[Mikee Posted Oct 27th 2008 12:05PM]

^DirectX 11 has been in development since the release of Vista. Nothing I said was extreme.

And actually, you can find articles regarding DX11 from around June 10th, such as this one:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-First-Taste-of-DirectX-11-Soon-Version-11-Is-Based-on-DirectX-10-87617.shtml

[boe Posted Oct 27th 2008 9:36AM]

Hey Ballmer, How about making SPEED your biggest new feature in Windows 7. I don't need cool borders, or a fancy screen saver as a feature - how bout making it faster on ALL hardware.

Streamline it for older PCs - so it is faster at booting (that means when you are IN windows and you aren't waiting for things to load any more - I don't expect it to load more apps in startup faster but at least the same amount as an identical XP machine), shutting down, opening ALL apps, COPYING files on a NETWORK, copying files from hard drive to hard drive etc.

Leverage new hardware. If a person has a new quad or core 2 system 2 or more gigs of memory etc - make it run 64 bit, multithreading etc to the max so that it does things faster than XP on the same hardware.

[Crespire Posted Dec 8th 2008 11:22PM]

See this is why Windows will always be bulkier than something like OSX. It has to support multiple hardware platforms. I think a lot of people forget about this way too often.

[RayVoid Posted Oct 27th 2008 9:52AM]

"1,000 engineers to code" great, but 1k monkeys banging on typewriters are still just monkeys. After being burned by Vista I really can't say that this has me very impressed as of yet. How many new great features was Vista supposed to have brought out, but were axed? Take a look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_removed_from_Windows_Vista

Also, before you MS get your panties in a bunch, this isn't a fanboy post! I've been relatively happy with Microsoft products since MS-DOS 5 and Windows 3.11 (except for when they took my dosshell away, pre-OSR2 win95, and winME), they make good operating systems and I'm not afraid to admit it.

[Maikeru28x Posted Oct 27th 2008 9:51AM]

So tell me guys, is this like a server or something!¡!? So PC's won't get virus just like apple.

[Wwhat Posted Oct 27th 2008 11:16AM]

YEs windows 7 will have DX11, and so will vista, what else is 'new'?

[MooseDesign Posted Oct 27th 2008 11:40AM]

"A Solid Foundation for New Possibilities" - Who is writing their material, Al Gore?

Ho hum.

[bluemeanie Posted Oct 27th 2008 12:08PM]

If it's still as bloated as Vista, Windows 7 will need all the assistance it can get, GPU acceleration or otherwise.
Vista's underpinnings are antiquated and can't support additional features without adding needless complexity. Around 2000 Microsoft needed to end the NT/XP line with XP and start with a fresh base. They rested on their laurels and Vista is clear evidence of their mistake. Those who think otherwise are failing to acknowledge the horsepower required for their Vista machine to be tolerable. Windows 7 will be little more than additional gloss tacked onto a already cumbersome and buckling core.

I wish it were otherwise because I administrate PCs all day at this is getting old. Windows 7 will just be Vista 2 and that's sad.

[sokket Posted Oct 27th 2008 1:41PM]

I feel bad for people who use your admin'd pcs. You SHOULDN'T be using Vista on an old machine. It is backwards compatible for application purposes, not hardware. It tells the minimum system specs right on the website. I have two modern computers, both running Vista (Laptop: Core 2 Duo, 2gb RAM,GeForce Go 7600 Vista Home Premium, Desktop: Q6600, 4gb RAM, 8800GTS, Vista Business) and both run extremely well no matter what I throw at it. I've had a VM running XP with VS2008 and VS2005 open at the same time with no lag.

"Vista's underpinnings are antiquated and can't support additional features without adding needless complexity."

Have you tried writing software?? It isn't point-click like being an admin is. Its complicated to add certain features, which complicates the piece of software. If you understand how software is written and what Vista does, it does a fantastic job. Yes, it could do things better like update the whole registry system or create a relational database file system, but no other OS has that yet. It takes awhile to create major upgrades that would be backward compatible and 100% usable in the situations that the old system is.

Basically, dont bitch about Vista if you haven't tried it on a system with the minimum requirements (aka modern PC). I've used almost every Windows since 95, OpenSuSE, Ubuntu, and Fedora. Vista is completely my favorite OS to date. Learn how it works, if you still hate it, then you can bitch.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2008 11:17PM]

@JMMGoalster

Yes. I tried it on both old and new machines.
It sucks.
Really can't tolerate anymore and then I went back to Xp.

[helio99 Posted Oct 27th 2008 12:26PM]

There are very few general use technologies in computing right now that a well read researcher from the early 1980's would be (conceptually) surprised by. The idea that these technologies were "copied" is especially laughable. They have been concepts for about as long computing has existed. This is, in fact, true for most things that people claim have been copied by one group or the other. You can tell most off the loudmouths spouting this nonsense are brain dead fanbois who haven't read the history and theory of UI's and computer technology in general and spend most of their time in tiresome echo chambers.

[cb88 Posted Oct 27th 2008 1:15PM]

actually it only took 200 engineers the rest were preparing progress reports and UML collaboration graphs which the 200 engineers mostly ignored since they had already finished the implementation about 3 different times so the just picked the one closest to the diagrams...

[Paulmichael Posted Oct 27th 2008 2:52PM]

So, could this help me out? I've got a laptop that has dual NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTXs in SLI mode, which I'm positive perform much faster than the computer's CPU, a single-core AMD Turion Mobile TL-44, 2.4 GHz. If the OS could direct most computation to the GPUs I would think everything could run even faster...Right?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 28th 2008 8:43PM]

im still not sure

[looselycoupled Posted Oct 28th 2008 4:22AM]

As mentioned, Engadget is referring to offloading general-purpose processing onto the GPU (aka GPGPU/Stream processing) *NOT* GPU ACCELERATED USER INTERFACES...